Cruises You Should Avoid If You Want the Best Experience

Cruises offer the best vacation that money can buy. The value cruises offer is unparalleled when you compare them to every other type of vacation that is available.

However, not all cruises are created equal. Here are a few cruises that you might want to avoid if you want the best possible experience.

Maiden Voyages

The launch of new cruise ships brings excitement with new features, dining options, entertainment, and more. They also bring some growing pains for the first few cruises. It often takes a few voyages to get all the kinks out, and I have learned this firsthand.

I have been on the maiden voyages of many new cruise ships on different cruise lines, and they pretty much have one thing in common. It takes a few days for everything to start running smoothly.

On some of these cruises, the shows and entertainment weren’t ready. On others, the app didn’t work right for the first half of the cruise. On others, dining was much slower than usual due to the staff all working together for the first time. On the bright side, things always ran much smoother by the end of the cruise. 

There were also issues with the reservations system, WiFi, and a few other things that improved towards the end of the cruise. And the issue wasn’t just with one cruise ship; it seems that most new ships from all cruise lines always have a week or two adjustment period until crew members get things running at 100% proficiency.

If you want to sail on a brand new cruise ship, wait a few weeks and then go on it for the best experience.

Short Cruises During Spring Break

Short cruises to The Bahamas or Cozumel during spring break tend to be loud party cruises.

Now, if this is what you’re looking for, then go for it. However, if you want a quieter or more relaxing cruise, these voyages will not offer an optimal experience.

Cheapest Cruise You Can Book

I get it, sometimes you just want to book the cheapest cruise possible to save money. This often leads to booking a cruise that isn’t right for you. There are cruises for every type of traveler, from those who want an immersive cultural experience in Europe to those who just want a beach getaway in the Caribbean.

I know someone who will never take a cruise again because they did this. Instead of researching or using a travel agent to find a cruise that fit what they were looking for, they booked a cheap party cruise and were miserable the entire sailing.

First Cruise After a Dry Dock

The thought of taking a cruise on a ship that is just out of dry dock can be appealing to many cruisers. The ship will often have new restaurants, lounges, updated cabins, and other great amenities. If you are thinking about booking a cruise on a ship that is right out of dry dock, you may want to pass on the very first cruise and opt for a week or two later.

Many times, all the repairs and renovations are not completed by the end of the dry dock. I have read reports from cruisers complaining about construction still taking place throughout the week, and parts of the ship were still closed.

On one cruise, several passengers had their cruise canceled last minute because the construction workers needed a place to stay, and the cruise line bumped them from their cabins.

On one of my cruises, the ship was headed into dry dock when the cruise was over. On the day of debarkation, workers had already started work tearing up the pool deck. While this didn’t bother me, some passengers were bothered by it. It’s something worth considering.

Cruises with Large Themed Groups

There are two types of group cruises: those who charter the entire ship and those that just have a large group on board standard cruises. This is about the second group.

Large themed groups often change the entire atmosphere of cruise ships. They usually have parts of the ship blocked off for them to use (lounges, etc.), and it just creates a non-optimal cruise experience.

To see if there is a large themed group on your cruise, Google your cruise ship and the dates of your sailing. If there is a themed group cruise on your sailing, it will show up in search results from their website promoting it.